Just Breathe!

Those of you who are following this blog have not heard from me since my arrival on good old American soil.  I have been struggling with breathing issues since the beginning of September.  After two trips to the hospital emergency wing and a visit to the doc I am now on the mend.  The first week back I was a jet-lagged version of myself but still felt confident about the progress we made in setting up the non-profit organization for widows and orphans.  The end of that first week it was like a semi truck parked itself on my lungs and I simply could not breathe!  For more than a week my sole existance was to breathe.  Other than becoming too familiar with my remote I did little else.  During those days I was extremely frustrated that no progress was being made on the non-profit.  After seeing with my own eyes the tremendous suffering, I feel a hightened sense of urgency to move forward as quickly as possible so that we can be in a position to meet needs.  I had alot of time to think and I was reminded of who gave me breath in the first place.  Job who was well aquainted with suffering was very aware that God breathes life into us.  Job 33:4 states "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."  Here is a man who truly understood that God himself had breathed into him the breath of life.  He knew the source of life and the source of strength to make it though tremendous suffering.  For that week or two I was acutely aware of my total dependency on my Heavenly Father for each breath.   I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and felt like someone had been covering my face with a pillow I inwardly cried out to God for air.  I was desperate to breathe.  While lying in the hospital bed that morning my mind reflected on the faces of the children, widows and widowers that are equally desperate for the breath of life.  Job who lost all of his children, his home, his livestock, his wealth and his health and was criticized by his wife and his friends, perfectly articulates what I saw in the eyes of many in suffering.  Job's questions to God were recorded in Job 10:18 "So why did you have me born? I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me! I wish I'd never lived—a stillborn, buried without ever having breathed. Isn't it time to call it quits on my life? Can't you let up, and let me smile just once before I die and am buried, before I'm nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground and banished for good to the land of the dead, blind in the final dark?"  These are the very real questions of those who wake up every morning wondering if they will eat that day, struggling with a life threatening condition with no money for treatment or simply trying to survive till their next breath.  If God sent His Son so that we can have life and life abundantly (John 10:10), then it is not enough to simply breathe in and breathe out.  He made us for more and His Son died for more.  So, as you read this and you breathe in and breathe out the breath of life, remember that you were made for more...and so were they. 

The Hands and Feet of Jesus

The Faces of Angels!

The Mud House!!

A man gets up every morning and goes to the river near his house. He takes his four sons with him, and they spend the day pulling clay with their hands from the river bed. They use the clay to make bricks for their house and any extra bricks they will try to sell for food. Time is of the essence because winter is coming and they have a new 4 month old baby. A clay house is inexpensive to make but it is far less than ideal. Once the walls have been built with the clay bricks, clay is then used to fill in the cracks and make the wall smooth. Paint is then applied to help seal the walls and protect them from rain. As you can imagine the clay walls still wash away with each rain and these kind of houses require constant maintenance to keep them safe. A good roof is essential for the saftey of the people who live inside these clay houses. This family has no roof, six children and winter is quickly approaching. We met this family last week. You can tell that the parents are hard working and they love their children. We were invited inside the house. There was nothing. No beds, no blankets, no toys, no food.....but there was love, and it was tangable.
The safety of this family and many others is severly at risk. During the winter months it is not uncommon for roofs to cave in and kill or severly injur their occupants. Roofs are really expensive and that is why many people simply don't have them. It costs $3,000 us to purchase a roof for one family like this.

Through the Eyes of A Child!

If it is true that a picture says a thousand words, then what would these pictures say to you? More importantly what would your response be?
I had to answer that question very quickly. What did I have to offer them? Some candy and a small stuffed animal? What next a hug and a smile? We brought all of that and a bag of groceries but their needs were so many and my resources so limited.
They needed so much more than what I had to give. My heart was broken by their lifeless eyes. My hope strengthened only by the knowledge of a God who sees them, knows them by name, loves them completly and died for them. What do you see through the eyes of these little girls? What would your response be?

The Girls Living the Country Life!

Green Achers is the place to be! A common mode of transportation; milk for our cereal; true love (a gypsy wedding); worshiping.... accordian style; a typical hardworking farmer;

Thousands without family, food and medical care!!

These are just a
few of the precious ones we have met along the way!!

Nursing Homes are Rare!

These people are well taken care of and were rescued from very bad situations. They receive healthy meals and medical care. Most of the medicine is donated from the United States!

For My Mom and My Friend Pat!

They have these beautiful storks here. I have really enjoyed seeing them!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Our fearless interpreter and friend is going to need emergency surgery very soon. He was suppose to have it before we came but postponed it because we were coming. Please pray for him. His name is Andrei and he is very precious to us and to Jesus.

Fleas, Flies and Friends!

Has your pet ever had fleas? Have you ever been pestered by flies at a picnic? Have either one ever infested your house? They bite you, land on your food and drive you crazy, right? Imagine being 95 years old, partially blind and all alone. You spend your days stirring clay and water in a big steel pot with a giant stick all day long so that you can use it to fix your clay house before winter comes. Every rain drop washes away the clay because your roof is bad. As you work you pray and worry because you have no food, no family.....no one! Your bed has not been washed in months, maybe years! You go to lay your head down at night after a long day of work. You do not change your clothes you just lay in the same clothes you wore all weak. Your sleep is not sound because the fleas bite you all night and with every noise you awake worried that they will come and beat down the door and steal what little you have.

Then you wake up the next day tired and hopeless because you have no purpose, no friends and no hope. Then a man comes. You don't even know his name but his smile is familiar. He comes when he has food for you. He can't come every week because he donesn't have enough to go around. But when he comes you have enough food for one week.

What if this was your grandma or mine. What would you do? We have met hundreds of Widows, Widowers and orphans in this same condition. Please Pray! Only God can provide for these forgotten people!

The Joy of the LORD is my strength!

Hello to all of you who are walking this journey with us! I should say goodmorning because while I am writing this you are all still in bed! We have been many days without cell phones or the internet but now we are in a location where we can send and receive emails but still can not make phone calls. There have been many adventures since we have last communicated with you. I would like to share them all with you but for now time is limited. We are currently staying with a family that serves the poor in the poorest part of the country. After driving 15 hours to the northen part of the country we arrived just before the sun went down. After a quick meal the father did not hesitate to take us immediately to visit the poor. Each person was greeted with kisses, food and a song. But the thing that impressed me the most was the joy. Each house we visited seemed darker and more depressing than the one before. With each story my heart broke but in the middle of it all was this JOYFUL man spreding the love of Jesus with a smile and a song. With each bag of food hope and with each visit life. May your day be filled with this kind of joy even if you are suffering. Thank you for joining us on this journey. It does help to know who is joing us by signing up as a follower. We will try and get more specific later. God bless you and keep praying for us! Check this later this evening your time for updates!

We Have Arrived! Hallelujah!

After spending three days in a country where we were supposed to be for only three hours, we finally arrived at our destination. God is always willing to show Himself as a powerful amazing God...He has not dissapointed us. I believe that He LOVES to maticulously orchestrate things in a way that it blows our socks off! We came to this beautiful place to live among beautiful people to be blown away by a beautiful Saviour. Hang with us on this journey and I guarantee you will need to hold onto your socks too!

The Adventure Has Begun

Myself and two brave companions, Jessica and Holly, have arrived safely in Europe. For the next three weeks we will be visiting orphans and widows in at least two countries. We will not be sharing our location in order to protect the people and children we will be working with. However, we will be sharing as much details as possible about thier lives and our encounters with them so that you can join us on this incredible journey. We want to share our experiences with you so that you can laugh with us, cry with us, dream big dreams with us and pray with us! We don't just believe, we know that prayer changes things!

Consider following our blog. It is really easy to do and it is a huge encouragement for us to see the people who are joining us! We would love for you to tell your family and friends about us and more importantly about the 143 million lost, abandoned and dying children that need of us!

One final thought for tonight : dare to dream, dare to hope, dare to believe, dare to love!